There was definitely excitement in the air for this must win head-to-head promotion decider. We had to win but a draw was good enough for Harrow Town, who had conclusively spanked us by 10 wickets earlier in the season. With rain forecast it was imperative we got on with it and winning the toss was pretty much essential so there was a huge sigh of relief when the coin came down on our side.

Maybe it would be our day? But when three chances went begging in the first few overs maybe it wouldn’t? Then Roy Marett got to work. The first one was an excellent diving, juggling catch by Shiv at midwicket to get rid of the opener who had smashed us at their place. We were on our way and the tumble of wickets continued with an LBW and a slip catch by Partha from one that popped a bit. Roy continued to take the first six wickets with the total on 64. There was talk of all ten (would he have had to change his surname by deed poll to ‘Of the Rovers’ if that had happened?). At the other end Marcello de Crescenzo plugged away with no luck, with a couple of chances going begging. It was time for a change and Shaffick Babwah and Harrison Folland came on. Both were very accurate and difficult to get away and they gradually chipped out a few with the help of tidy catching in the ring by Shiv and Kunjal, to end with two wickets each. This was in direct contrast to a life given to the handy young left handed number 4. He skied one from Shaff that nearly landed on Gordon’s toes at slip. Unfortunately Gordon had vacated the area to allow Christian to take the catch with the gloves. Sadly he hadn’t told Christian this! The youngster was eventually bowled by Harrison for the top score of 34 with the total on 98. All out for under a hundred then? That wouldn’t take into account the problems we’ve had finishing off teams this year (100 for the last two wickets against Wembley) and it was looking like a similar situation for a while as the last two grew in confidence. Nerves set in as the clouds began to gather. Roy came back, but it was Harrsion who had the last man caught for 20 by Ankit at mid on from a flat skimmer that was very droppable. So all out for 118. Marett 15-4-27-6.

As the innings finished a bit early tea wasn’t ready and we turned around straightaway. Harrison Folland went out as a pinch hitter (to get it done in 10 overs) and Partha Dave was told his normal anchor role was not appropriate for the day. The Folland approach lasted only 2.5 overs but in that time we’d got 24 and the momentum was with us. Shivraj Sharma continued in the same vain and we had 58 after 8 overs when he departed. We could afford to take a breath and Ankit Patel settled in as Partha was playing fluently. After an hour it was time for tea, but Harrow Town declined the offer saying they didn’t want to go off and come on again. This was very sporting as they could easily have gone off and waited for rain. There were no more dramas. There was a spinner who was difficult to get away and would have had a strong influence with more runs on the board. But we got to the target after 21 overs with Ankit 27 n.o. and Partha an excellent 55 n.o. at exactly a run a ball.

We had the handshakes and hugs, put away the numbers and flags, walked across to the pavilion and then it started to rain……….

Thanks to Bob for umpiring (vital given the importance of the game and rain being around) and those who came over to the back to give us support.

Richmond 10 points Southgate 0 points, but in reality the actual result of the match was a comprehensive victory for Duckworth Lewis over common sense.

Richmond were in a good position to win the game but Southgate’s two best bowlers Mukesh Bhatt and Ashley Sivarajah had bowled just three overs between them so the picture of the game would almost definitely have changed..

The match was definitely not over after just 26 overs of the second innings.

There is an obvious precedent as in the earlier encounter at Richmond the home team, at 162-2, were strolling to the Southgate target of 233 but in fact a collapse saw Southgate snatch an exciting victory.

So game 1, Richmond requiring 72 to win with 8 wickets left. Game completed and Richmond lost.

Game 2. Richmond needing 95 to win with 9 wickets left. Rain arrived as forecast so game not completed and Richmond awarded the ten points.

At the bottom of the league Shepherds Bush, chasing 305 to win against North Middlesex were just 137-2 in 25 overs and gained the ten points when in reality the respective season records of the two teams would suggest that they had no chance whatsoever of reaching that target.

Twickenham meanwhile did not complete the requisite second innings 20 overs in their game were awarded just one point and were relegated.

They must be seething.

I would recommend that such unfinished games be regarded as a draw and 4 points (not ten points !) is awarded to the team scoring quickest.

End of the soapbox and on with the report of the game !

Unfortunately Faisal lost the toss, and with rain forecast with some confidence to arrive at 4pm it made sense for Richmond to ask the home side to bat.

Alvin, opening in the absence of Cameron Steel, looked in good form and showed us his classical extra cover drive a couple of times before he was bowled by Richmond’s genuinely quick bowler David Burton. Tom Edrich was his usual circumspect self and he and Michael Stevens (19) braved the storm from the aforementioned Burton and moved on to calmer waters before Mikey took a leaf out of the Alvin book of unusual run outs when, despite making his ground after a quick second run, he failed to ground his bat. The decision of out was made almost apologetically by the square umpire although, to be honest, it was a brilliant piece of work by the Richmond wicketkeeper.

Unfortunately Arnie Sahota was out almost immediately to a rather unfortunate caught and bowled but man in form Haydan Morton (38) joined Edrich (58) and the pair took the score to 123 before Burton, returning, accounted for both batsmen within a few balls of each other. Although Phil Dunnett (24) and the captain Faisal (21) both played cameos the innings really fell apart closing at 190, a decent score but slightly under par.

Ben Elders, on debut, opened the bowling down the hill and completed a splendid spell of ten overs, taking the only wicket to fall for just 31 runs. Robert Cole’s assessment of him as the best left arm quick bowler in the world was a little exaggerated but on this evidence he would definitely not look out of place at this level if he played regularly.

Richmond progressed steadily with Pankhania (48*) and Compton (16*) but the test against Mukesh and Ashley was about to begin when the rains came exactly as forecast. No-one will ever know how the result would have turned out but Pankhania only averages 20 this season and Compton had struggled through 64 balls for his 16.

The result was certainly not a foregone conclusion but Messrs Duckworth and Lewis decreed otherwise.

So, another season of high quality Premier Division league cricket ends and what an enjoyable season it has been. The standard is high and to finish in 4th place is an excellent effort. All credit to Faisal, in his fourth year as captain, and his team.

Four batsmen around the 500 runs mark, three top spinners, a fast bowler who took his wickets at just 14 and the best wicketkeeper in the league it has been a pleasure to watch them and I have thoroughly enjoyed writing my reports each week.

With each of the other Club sides gaining promotion it has been a wonderful season for the Club and the celebrations on Saturday night confirmed that.

Look out for details of the Club’s annual awards lunch at the Club in December.

Champions Southgate welcomed relegated Ickenham for a dead rubber match at the Walker on Saturday 27th.

Captain Sam decided to have some fun and draw the batting order out of a hat, to be fair he could have done this most weeks with the depth of batting talent available to him this summer.

Ickenham were struggling for availability and only had ten men, in the interest of fairness Sam himself took the field as sub. This allowed him to see watch at close quarters a lively opening stand from Waqas Khan and Alvin Durgacharan who played shots from the off.

A surging run-rate, a flat track and a lightning outfield had double agent Sam scratching his head at extra cover, he was chasing everything, diving full length and encouraging the bowlers but Southgate still looked set for a mammoth score.

He then went full Jazzer and suggested Alvin get to fifty then get himself out!

With a big score definitely up for grabs this wasn’t necessarily the instruction Alv (who had amazingly picked number one out of the hat!) was looking for. Nonetheless e promptly smashed one to long off where Ickenham’s answer to Gary Pratt did the rest with a very good swooping grab.

AK Durgacharan Ct. Sub (FARUQI)

Waqas meanwhile had gone into 5th gear with his full range of strokes, including the switch hit but he made way adjudged LBW. His anger at being given out evaporated immediately when Ravi in at four dispatched his first ball through point for four.

Ravi loves his batting, and entertained with a rapid eleven before holing out to cow corner. It was a joy to watch.

The rest of the batting was equally positive and entertaining but credit to the Ickenham bowlers, particularly one or their young off-spinners who set a good field, bowled to it and picked up four well deserved wickets.

Fifty for Chetan Telang and a cameo at nine from Shoaib got us within range of 300 and a last ball six from the ‘Big-Show’ made it 301-9 in 45 overs.

Big Ben Elders bowled extremely well as his has done for two summers, fast, hostile and controlled with movement away from the right hander. He picked up a couple of early wickets and bowled his nine overs in one spell.

The spinners all bowled well however Ickenham were not going down without a fight and took advantage of some attacking fields to good effect. With an U19 T20 final taking place the following day it was a good opportunity for them to play some attacking shots and they did this well.

As time ticked on we swopped wicket keepers to allow Ollie Bellwood to pick up a wicket with his off-spin and things did drag a little. But we took the final wicket in the last over and wrapped up a comprehensive win.

After so many hard fought games it was slightly odd to be playing a game with little riding on it but we got ten more points which is still important. Ickenham can take some positives from the day too and we wish them well next season.

Southgate headed to Bushy Park on Saturday with title aspirations, needing to win our final two games and for other results to go our way. Of the other teams in the title mix only our opponent, top of the table Teddington, had their destiny in their own hands.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, we made a steady start. By 25 overs we had progressed to 75 for 3 against some tidy seam bowling – Cam Steel, Mike Stevens (to the disappointment of his travelling fan club) and Tom Edrich all nicking decent balls to the keeper. Was this the platform we had been looking for to launch a big score or were we grinding our way towards our trademark 180? It could have gone either way.

Ayush Sahota looked subdued and our little Aussie mischief maker was riding his luck. As the spinners were finally introduced, Arnie began to accelerate but just as he was starting to reap the rewards of his hard graft he made a fatal hesitation and was run out for 32.

Keen to make amends, Haydan Morton dominated a 67 run partnership with skipper Faisal Mir, hitting 11 fours and two sixes, on his way to a first Middlesex League century. It was then left to Phil Dunnett (13* from 9) and Ashley Siverajah (17* from 7 – once he put away the ridiculous ramp shot and concentrated on the MCC approved slog sweep) to push us up to a competitive 239 from our 50 overs.

The first twenty overs of the Teddington reply were probably best summed up by their skipper the ball before he chose Exit B and was well taken by a tumbling Mukesh Bhatt at wide long on. The exact words aren’t suitable for a family match report, but as Dave Woffinden trundled his way to 2-19 from his ten overs and Haydan added a direct hit run out I am sure you can imagine the sentiment.

At the half way mark Teddington had matched our 75 for 3, but by the time Haydan dismissed his Australian counterpart Teddington had gone past 200 and their number five was on his way to a hundred of his own, ending up on 106* from 60 balls.

In the end Teddington won comfortably, with two overs to spare, but for most of the game it was much closer than that. Had we managed to pick up either their centurion or overseas before the final power play we may well have pulled it back, but credit must go to both batsmen for a perfectly executed run chase.